The Lipovsek family has been a part of the Franklin community since its inception, after immigrating from Slovenia

By Nikki Patrick |

Franklin is 100 years old, and the Lipovsek family has always been a part of the community. On Saturday, family members gathered to celebrate both Franklin's centennial and their own.

That meant double duty for Bitner, who was busy with reunion plans and serving as chairman of the Centennial Committee at the same time.

"We had 96 register for the event, as well as having a lot of local drop-ins," said Margaret Maxwell Terlip, who was born in Chicago, grew up in Arma and now lives in Michigan.

Family members - three sisters and a brother - came to the United States from Cesnjice, an area of Slovenia. Filip Lipovsek arrived in October 1905 aboard the La Bretagne, Francisek "Frank" Lipovsek arrived in November of 1906 aboard the SS Samland, and Ferdinand "Fred" Lipovsek arrived in October 1909 on the SS Laura.

Their sister and her husband, Magdelena (Lipovsek) and Frank Petelinski came in 1906, according to grandson Raymond Buchanan, Florida.

"I'm not sure of the exact details of their journey, but I know that all four families came through Ellis Island," he said. "I also know they came in steerage, which was a horrible experience."

It was made even more horrible for his grandparents because their infant son died during the voyage to America. "The family story is that they kept the body and gave it to a priest at Ellis Island," who saw to the baby's burial," Buchanan said.

He said that his grandparents became separated at Ellis Island.

"My grandfather spoke to a kind immigration officer, and he helped find my grandmother," Buchanan said.

Evidently, such separations were not uncommon.

"The same thing happened to my grandparents, Frank and Marie Lipovsek," Terlip said. "My grandmother was pregnant with their first child at the time, and the immigration officers were going to send her back to Slovenia, but fortunately that didn't happen."

As the families arrived, they headed for southeast Kansas.

"They wanted jobs, and the coal mines were the most ready jobs," Buchanan said.

"They loved to dance, and they socialized with the other Slovenes in the area," Terlip said.

Buchanan's grandparents later left southeast Kansas and headed for Alabama.

"My grandfather scraped up enough to buy his first farm," he said. "He probably had 40 acres and two mules. Now farms are hundreds of acres, and they farm with tractors that use satellite technology."

The Franklin and the southern sides of the family gradually fell out of contact.

"I do vaguely remember coming back here for a family funeral when I was a tiny boy," Buchanan said. "I knew that this other side of the family was here, but we weren't looking for them. They found and contacted us, I don't recall whether it was through a telephone call or e-mail. Five years ago we had a family reunion at the old Franklin Community Center that was destroyed by the tornado. My cousin, Phyllis Bitner, showed me where my grandfather's house was, but it's not there anymore."

The family has flourished. Buchanan estimates that there are 80 Lipovsek descendants in the South. When asked about the other lines of the family, Terlip started trying to count up all her cousins, then gave up.

Several family members have been involved in genealogical research, writing to Slovenia for family records.

"In Slovenia, they include the mother's name on birth announcements, and for weddings they include the names of the parents of the couple," Terlip said. "This makes research so much easier."

Buchanan added that the Ellis Island archives are also accessible to researchers.

"If you know the person's name, you can find out when they came and other information," he said.

"Of course, it can be tricky because many names got changed."

Buchanan has been over to Slovenia, and was very moved by the experience.

"I saw the flowers that my grandmother told me about," he said.

"I visited the 250-year-old church where my grandparents were married, and the priest there went into the back and found the vestments that the priest wore at their wedding. He let my daughter try them on."

Buchanan said that he and his brother, Frank Buchanan, had asked their grandfather, late in his life, if he'd like to go back to his homeland and see relatives there.

"He said no, he didn't want to go," Buchanan said.

"He called Alabama 'Alabom,' and he said that he loved Alabom," Frank Buchanan said. "He was a responsible man. He came to this country, learned English and became a citizen. He took care of his family, and others as well."

"My grandfather became a U.S. citizen in 1944, and he was so proud of that," Terlip said. "He died three months later."

"We had asked them why the came to America, and they said that they'd had nothing in Slovenia," Buchanan said. "They had heard if they came to America and worked hard, they could get something. My grandparents, and the rest of our family, truly lived the American dream."